WHAT:
The Alabama State Conference of the NAACP has received several complaints from Black Farmers that they continue to be denied equal treatment by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Black farmer are being denied equal access to farm loans. While this discrimination is well documented, the USDA has not settled thousands of claims.

Many people believe these claims were settled with the Pigford Class lawsuits. This is untrue. There are a group of black farmers in Alabama and other states who were discriminated against when they applied for loans from the USDA. These farmers filed separate from the Pigford group and some have received favorable judgments by USDA. However, the USDA has reneged on the agreement they negotiated and, 10-15 years later, there is still no settlement with USDA.

The Alabama State Conference of the NAACP will join with our Regional Office, the Black Farmers, USDA Coalition of Minority Employees and others to provide proof to the media and the public, that USDA has not lived up to its promise.